Before the Cleveland Browns went into Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, and defeated the Steelers 48-37 in the AFC Wild Card, the Browns had not won in Pittsburgh since 2003. In a way, you could say that Heinz Field has been a house of horrors for the Browns. So what does this have to do with the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Well, after the Miami Heat had defeated the Cavaliers on Tuesday, March 16 by a score of 113-98, the Cavaliers have lost 19 straight games at American Airlines Arena in South Florida. In fact, Cleveland hasn’t beaten the Heat in Miami since Jan. 24, 2010, by a razor-thin score of 92-91.
Jumping into the time machine, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal were then on the team on the Cavs, in LeBron’s first stint. Going back to the present, when Cleveland visits Miami in South Beach on Saturday, they’ll be trying to avoid their 20th straight loss there.
Miami leads the all-time season series against Cleveland by a wide margin of 71-46. That’s a difference of 25 games!
It doesn’t seem to matter who the Cavaliers have put out on the court because the Heat still ends up coming out victorious. For example, when James returned to the Cavaliers before the 2014-15 season, Cleveland visited Miami for a Christmas Day game. Both LeBron and Dwyane Wade had 30 points, but, it was Wade who was celebrating at the end of the game as the Heat spoiled LeBron’s return to South Beach with a 101-91 victory.
When James went down to Miami to team up with Wade and Chris Bosh, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ chances to win in South Beach went from minuscule down to zero. In fact, the only time that Cleveland defeated Miami during the Bosh-Wade-James era was in Cleveland in late March of 2011.
It almost feels like there are ghosts surrounding American Airlines Arena who only come out when the Cavs come to Miami, too.
This is because it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, Cleveland seems to find a way to lose in South Florida.
Given how the season is going so far for the Cavaliers, it almost feels inevitable that the Cavs are going to lose their 20th straight game in Miami, right? But as the saying goes: “Any team can win on any given day.”
As for Saturday’s game itself, if the Cavs want to win they have to sleigh their Miami demons. But how are they are going to do that? Well, they have to figure out a way to control Duncan Robinson, for example, and can’t let Jimmy Butler control the game like he did the last time the two played.
Granted, both are far easier said than done. So far this season, Robinson is averaging 12.9 points per game this season, but don’t discount that. Because he can catch fire (no pun intended) and start draining 3-point shots left and right; Robinson is fourth in the NBA in three-point shots made, and has hit 39.9 percent from deep.
As for when Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Jarrett and the Cleveland Cavaliers have the ball, they’ll need to get some interior production, hopefully from Jarrett Allen, who has been inactive the past three games due to a concussion.
Larry Nance Jr. will need to be affecting the game in a variety of ways, too, however, as he typically has lately. That’s factoring in playmaking, rolling and ideally, in the catch-and-shoot game, all of which KJG’s Amadou Sow highlighted regarding Jr.’s play recently.
Nonetheless, this will again be a tough one for the Cavs, one would imagine.
Perhaps the Cavaliers can break this awful losing streak in Miami on Saturday, though.